Alaska Airlines flight makes sudden diversion after pilot says he's not certified to land: report

An Alaska Airlines flight being operated by Skywest was forced to divert from its intended destination of Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) in Wyoming last week after the pilot admitted he was not certified to land the plane in Jackson, according to reports. 

Alaska Airlines/SkyWest flight 3491 was approaching JAC on Thursday when the pilot reported from the cockpit that he was unable to land, the Cowboy State Daily reports, citing a Reddit user who claimed to be on the flight. 

The plane, a twin jet Embraer ERJ 175, then diverted to Salt Lake City, where it landed safely, according to FlightAware. Another pilot then replaced the unqualified pilot before taking off and landing in Jackson Hole at 2:55 p.m., more than three hours later than its scheduled landing time of 11:44 a.m. The flight originated in San Francisco.

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SkyWest, a regional airline, told the Cowboy State Daily in a statement that the flight was indeed diverted and cited a lack of "correct paperwork" as the reason. 

"[Flight 3491] landed for a short time in Salt Lake City to correct a paperwork error related to the flight crew," the airline said in the statement. "The flight continued to Jackson Hole after a delay while a new pilot was secured to operate the flight. All pilots involved were qualified to fly and land the aircraft; the flight diverted from Jackson Hole due to an internal administrative error and out of abundance of caution."

SkyWest is contracted by Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. FOX Business reached out to SkyWest for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

A Reddit user, who goes by the username "babecityrecords," posted about the incident in a thread on the chat site, sparking fierce debate as to what exactly happened. The thread is under the title: "Something VERY weird happened on our Alaska flight yesterday: our pilot was unqualified to land??"

The user said that passengers were first notified about the diversion after they were told to prepare for descent. 

"Hey, I'm really sorry folks but due to me not having the proper qualification to land in Jackson Hole, we need to divert to Salt Lake City Utah. We'll keep you posted on the next steps," the pilot said, according to the Reddit user, who said he and his girlfriend were already nervous flyers. 

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"We then landed in Salt Lake City, they again apologized and gave us no other info, waited on the tarmac for about 1.5 hours, and then the pilot got off the plane (in a walk of shame since his bag was in the overhead in the back of the plane lol) and then a new pilot from Salt Lake City got on the plane and we flew into Jackson," the user continued. 

The Reddit user said that the landing at Jackson Hole was perhaps "the bumpiest landing in the descent I've ever experienced," which led some users who say they are pilots to speculate that bad landing conditions may have been behind the reason for the initial diversion. 

Jackson Hole Airport is at an elevation of nearly 6,500 feet, and the airport has a Special PIC (pilot in command) qualification as well as a SAAT level 4 rating, requiring a more experienced line check airman sitting copilot, according to the Cowboy State Daily, which reports that experienced pilots say the approach is "tricky" because of frequent downdrafts and windshear, combined with a short runway.

The pilot may not have been senior enough to land in difficult conditions, which pilots refer to as ceiling and visibility unlimited (CAVU), which would explain the Reddit user’s description of the bumpy landing. 

Jackson Hole Airport Director Jim Elwood told the outlet that each individual airline has its own training programs and pilot certification protocol.

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"My guess is that the pilots were recently qualified to land at JAC (because they would not be allowed to fly the route otherwise -- regulations would have triggered a crew swap), but they felt that they were not experienced/confident to deal with the winds or another condition that day," another user opined. 

"Therefore that made the pilots decide to abort the landing and err on the safe side. This shows the system of checks/balances and communication with ATC works -- this should make you less nervous about flying in the future. Your quote [about the bumpy landing]… would support my suspicions."